Radio Telescopes Capture Best-Ever Snapshot of a Black Hole's Jets

on May 20, 2011

Centaurus A is a giant elliptical active galaxy 12 million light years away. Radio and X-ray images reveal features associated with jets emanating from near the galaxy's central supermassive black hole, which has a mass of 55 million suns. Now, the TANAMI project has provided the best-ever view of these jets. In the radio image of the galaxy's core, the black hole is invisible but the jets show in great detail. Features as small as 15 light-days across can be resolved. The powerful jets feed vast lobes of radio-emitting gas that reach far beyond the visible galaxy.

Left: The giant elliptical galaxy NGC 5128 is the radio source known as Centaurus A. Vast radio-emitting lobes (shown as orange in this optical/radio composite) extend nearly a million light-years from the galaxy. Credit: Capella Observatory (optical), with radio data from Ilana Feain, Tim Cornwell, and Ron Ekers (CSIRO/ATNF), R. Morganti (ASTRON), and N. Junkes (MPIfR). Right: This radio image from the TANAMI project provides the sharpest-ever view of a supermassive black hole's jets. As seen here, the full extent of the jet and counterjet is 4.16 light-years, smaller than the distance between our sun and the nearest star. The image resolves details as small as 15 light-days across. Undetected between the jets is the galaxy's 55-million-solar-mass black hole. Credit: NASA/TANAMI/Müller et al.

No Labels. Left: The giant elliptical galaxy NGC 5128 is the radio source known as Centaurus A. Vast radio-emitting lobes (shown as orange in this optical/radio composite) extend nearly a million light-years from the galaxy. Credit: Capella Observatory (optical), with radio data from Ilana Feain, Tim Cornwell, and Ron Ekers (CSIRO/ATNF), R. Morganti (ASTRON), and N. Junkes (MPIfR). Right: This radio image from the TANAMI project provides the sharpest-ever view of a supermassive black hole's jets. As seen here, the full extent of the jet and counterjet is 4.16 light-years, smaller than the distance between our sun and the nearest star. The image resolves details as small as 15 light-days across. Undetected between the jets is the galaxy's 55-million-solar-mass black hole. Credit: NASA/TANAMI/Müller et al.

German Labels. Left: The giant elliptical galaxy NGC 5128 is the radio source known as Centaurus A. Vast radio-emitting lobes (shown as orange in this optical/radio composite) extend nearly a million light-years from the galaxy. Credit: Capella Observatory (optical), with radio data from Ilana Feain, Tim Cornwell, and Ron Ekers (CSIRO/ATNF), R. Morganti (ASTRON), and N. Junkes (MPIfR). Right: This radio image from the TANAMI project provides the sharpest-ever view of a supermassive black hole's jets. As seen here, the full extent of the jet and counterjet is 4.16 light-years, smaller than the distance between our sun and the nearest star. The image resolves details as small as 15 light-days across. Undetected between the jets is the galaxy's 55-million-solar-mass black hole. Credit: NASA/TANAMI/Müller et al.

The giant elliptical galaxy NGC 5128 is the radio source known as Centaurus A. Vast radio-emitting lobes (shown as orange in this optical/radio composite) extend nearly a million light-years from the galaxy. Credit: Capella Observatory (optical), with radio data from Ilana Feain, Tim Cornwell, and Ron Ekers (CSIRO/ATNF), R. Morganti (ASTRON), and N. Junkes (MPIfR).

The elliptical galaxy NGC 5128, host of the Centaurus A radio source, as it appears in visible light. The galaxy is located about 12 million light-years away and is one of the closest sporting an active supermassive black hole. Credit: Capella Observatory

The TANAMI array consists of nine radio telescopes located on four continents. By combining data from the individual telescopes, astronomers can acquire images with the sharpness of a single telescope some 6,200 miles (10,000 km) across — about 80 percent of Earth's diameter. Credit: Matthias Kadler, Univ. of Würzburg